The Darkness in the Fire
by stillthinking1
Summary: Meadow Mellark has started a relationship with a man who is merciless in the bedroom. When he follows her to Twelve, it becomes difficult to know which one needs more protection. First attempt at lemons.
1. Chapter 1

"Mellark!" His voice booms down the corridor as it finds its target.

I would ignore him completely if there weren't half a dozen people walking by. I had planned to be several levels underground before he caught up with me. But no one ignores this flight commander. I straighten my shoulders, taking my stance as any good soldier does when addressed by a superior officer.

Commander Luca Vox catches up to me in a few long strides. His years in Thirteen have not been kind to him despite his young age. Although it's probably a step up from his childhood. His fair skin has been untouched by the sun and his mess of honey colored hair hardly leaves an impression. His size is average but the definition of his muscles always catches a person's eyes. His commitment to the exercise regimen he expects of all his soldiers to follow keeps him fit and allows him to intimidate the largest of men. If it weren't for the stress constantly furrowed in his brow and the three long scars on his cheek one might say he was attractive. Most just do their best to avoid him at all costs. "Three!" His deep voice echoes in the hall. "Three times I told you to turn back and three times you disregarded my order to turn back."

"Yes, sir," I reply denying nothing. This is not part of some game. "I disobeyed your orders and I understand protocol will need to be followed. I will see to it that the General has access to the full recording and-"

His dark eyes blaze with anger. He's not letting me walk away from this infraction. The control freak that he is. "You are mine to deal with, not the General."

This is not why I purposely flew Thirteen's newest hovercraft into open waters on it's first test run. My disobedience should be dealt with by the person charge of the flight program, not this ticking time bomb pulsing with anger from head to toe. "Sir, with all due respect, I know I made a mistake and I'm fully willing to accept the consequences." I lower my voice further even though people are walking by at such a pace you would think the building was on fire. "Can it wait until later?" I ask him.

Vox lowers his voice just the same. "And let you get away without a proper punishment? I don't think so." His strength is undeniable as his hand latches onto my arm and he pulls me with him towards the nearest elevator.

He turns cold the second the elevator doors close. I was expecting him to launch into me the first chance he had to be alone with me but no. His eyes stay forward and his hand stays firmly gripped to my arm. I risk a quick glance at him and then go back to my position as his captive. An angry Luca Vox is a common sight in District 13. His voice is the first thing most pilots hear after their test flights and it's usually followed by a few expletives about how inept his pilots are. But that's on a good day where they've followed each and every order to the best of their ability in order to impress him. Every move he makes is a fear tactic. He loves to instill it in everyone he meets. It helps keep them at a distance as well as granting him the control he so desperately craves. And right now he's doing his best to create the ultimate atmosphere of fear.

I hold my tongue until we reach his quarters. No need to fuel his fire with an audience. Every look was the same as he dragged me down the hall. _Why is he...oh, it's Vox, look away, look away!_

I rub my arm as he finally releases me to shut the door. His room is the plainest sight in District 13. A bed. A chair. A nightstand. No pictures, no mementos from his childhood. I inquired once if he even had one picture taken of him smiling before he arrived in Thirteen. He silenced me as his dark eyes glazed over me and told me only one thing made him smile.

He turns back slowly to look at me. I feel the weakness tingling in my legs but I'm not going to let it win. I started this day with a mission in mind and I'm going to follow through. "General Vine is going to hear about what I did. He's probably already sending security this way."

Vox walks a slow path towards me, his uniform tightening in all the right places. Okay, I'll admit it if I didn't before. He intimidates me as well. Even as the prized daughter of Panem's star-crossed lovers, I know there's no label on my head to protect me from him now. "Why do you keep bringing him up? Is this not what you expected?"

Of course, this is exactly the position I expected to be in. At some point I knew Vox would get his hands on me to reprimand me. I just thought the danger I put my crew in and the hovercraft would land me at the feet of Vine first. I didn't just annoy Vox with a backhanded comment, I broke flight procedure. "They aren't going to look the other away on this one. What I did was a serious-"

"What you've done is gone seriously mad. You're Meadow Mellark. You could have crashed into a mountain and been burned alive. They'd still drag your corpse out, pretty it up and send you packing in the morning. Now, while you're busy accepting your fate..." With two strong hands firmly set on my waist, he pushes me towards the bed. "Let's remember I'm not as forgiving as the rest of the world."

"I don't want to," I whine.

My protest draws suspicion into his eyes. "Are you not going to fulfill our agreement?"

He doesn't push me any further when the back of my legs reach his bed. I don't even want to think of what he would say or do if I actually said no. "Tomorrow. I can't do it." A flash of relief replaces his worry while I continue pouting at the thought. "You have no idea what I'm going to be put through," I say.

"You're right," he replies matter of factly. "I have no idea what it's like to be forced to spend three days with my family who love and adore me. No idea what it's like to be treated to feasts and pampered like a princess. I can't imagine the torture it must be when men drop at your feet just so they can kiss your hand." Vox's eyes twinkle as he mocks how I will have to spend the next three days.

I sigh, at a complete loss of anyone understanding the pressure I will be under the moment I set foot in Twelve again. It's not going to be a relaxing family reunion. This is the twenty-fifth year we have been a free country. Free from the jaws of a government that used children as pawns in the Hunger Games to elicit dominance over each and every citizen. And my parents happen to be the faces of the Rebellion that rose up to break the country out of those chains. So of course they have to be present and honored along with their children at their sides as Panem celebrates twenty-five blessed years of freedom.

"At least they have the courtesy to ask before they touch me," I say harshly, glaring into his amused eyes.

The chuckle that erupts from his throat sends a current to my stomach. I feel his hands tighten around my waist but instead of pushing me down to the bed, he pulls me tight against him. His hands slide down to my behind where he spreads his fingers and squeezes. "You're one to speak. How many times have I had to teach you about courtesy in the last month?"

I can feel the blush rising from my chest to my cheeks. I swallow before I answer. "And yet here I am again. You must be a horrible teacher."

His lips crack a slight smile and his tongue darts out just enough I can tell he's holding back his first response. "Some students are just more difficult than others. But I will break you of your bad habits one day. That's a promise." His groin presses into mine, promising more than just breaking me of bad habits. Really, he's just encouraging me.

I push back and he lets out a grunt. I curl my hands into his hair to hang on as we continue bumping our hips together, grunting into each other, heat filling the room. "This isn't getting you out of anything," he pants.

I look down as his arousal becomes more and more evident. It's getting me exactly what I want. "If you ask nicely, I'll stop."

He growls at me and captures my lips in a passionate kiss. He continues the rhythm while distracting me with his eager tongue. I soon find myself flat on my back on his bed with Vox still thrusting into me. He pulls his lips from mine and I can't help but moan at the loss of his warm lips. "You ask nicely." His lips join mine before I can offer up a response and he pushes the bulk of his weight into me. Even fully clothed I can feel his tight muscles as he asserts himself as the dominate one in this room. I can't keep track of his hands as they travel over my sides and chest. His lips continue to devour mine and his bottom half has picked up the pace.

I struggle to get his name through the kisses but when I do his hips finally slow. His lips part from mine and zone in on the sensitive spot under my ear. I bend my neck to the side as he nips and licks creating an unbearable hunger down below. "Luca," I say his name weakly and he finally ceases his assault to look at me. "Please," I moan, my blue eyes begging his dark ones to just do it.

"Please what, Meadow? I want to hear you say it."

"Please fuck me."

"How many times did you disobey me today?" For love of... I don't want to play this game right now. I just want him inside of me.

"Luca, please..."

"How many times?" He repeats himself with a firmer voice.

"Three," I say.

A dark smile spreads over his irresistible lips. "Three. Three for me, three for you."


	2. Chapter 2

He is impossible to please. First he has me strip down to nothing. Then he has me put on a pair of his underwear. Then comments at how much weight I've been losing as they hang off my hips and has me replace his underwear with mine. I had a few pounds to spare anyway with my parents shoving food in my direction every chance they got. Not to mention the goodies my father brought home from the bakery everyday. But with the pressure of Luca Vox expecting me to perform to the best of my ability during training and in the bedroom what was he expecting?

A part of me knows he's just doing it to annoy me. But I refuse to fight fire with fire. Especially when I'm at the mercy of his hands while laying in his lap. It hurts enough when he's doing it out of lust than anger.

"Lovely... just lovely." His hand has now slipped underneath my underwear. Rubbing, squeezing, his for the taking. The blood rushes to my core with every touch of his hand. My dark hair shields my face from his view but my soft moans let him know how pleasurable his touch is to me. "Have you thought of a word yet?"

I groan now from his question more than his hands. "Why can't we just use stop?"

He gathers my underwear holding the top and bottom together and starts to tug it down. "Because apparently words like stop and abort are meaningless to you. And didn't we both enjoy it more last time when I didn't stop?"

I stifle a smile even though he can't see it. "I don't need a word," I say defiantly.

"Yes, you do," he states back quickly with a light slap.

"Not if that's the best you have. That's one you know," I say. Our arrangement has been going on for about a month. Since the first day I arrived in Thirteen actually. I'm allowed to disobey him as much as I like, I just have to pay for it in the bedroom. But I still get rewarded for it afterwards.

"That was for not having a word prepared," Luca states firmly. "I don't want to hurt you... but I will if you don't come up with one right now." He slaps me again on the same cheek already breaking our rule of switching sides so one doesn't become more red than the other.

He barely put effort into that one. This is like a warm-up to the real punishment. Just trying to scare me into picking some random word I'll scream out when I've had too much. There hasn't even been a moment that's come close to that yet. Other than being amusing this is really pointless. "How about Vine? I've been holding back yelling his name so now might be-"

He hits me at nearly full strength this time and I halt whatever comment was on my tongue. He caresses the cheek as if he were sorry but I know better. He's just going to wind up and spank it again. "One word, Meadow. It's not that hard..."

I relax my body and breathe. If he wants to play... then I'll play. "Why don't you think of one since you're the one so concerned with safety?"

The next spanking comes down on me hard enough I grimace under the pain. A little relief comes when he bends down and kisses me with his wet lips. "I can't feel your pain, Meadow. I won't know when to stop. This word has to be one that will come easily to you. What do you usually start thinking of when I'm banging you into submission?"

_Don't stop. Ever._ We haven't even begun the spankings for my earlier disobedience and I can feel the tenderness in my buttocks. Fine, fine. I'll just say a word and forget it immediately. "Goose," I say so quickly he doesn't hear me properly.

"What?"

"Goose," I say a little louder.

"Goose," he repeats in disbelief. "Why may I ask?"

Why is he questioning me? He wanted a word and he got it. "None of your busine-"

A shooting pain runs into my body as he spanks me as hard as he usually does and I cry out. I still can't tell if hurts more when I'm expecting it or not. "Everything about you is my business. If I want to know what shampoo you use this morning you will tell me. If I want to know what position makes you scream the loudest I will find out. And if I want to know why you're picking _goose_ of all words you will tell me."

A few seconds pass by while I wait for him to hit me again. But he doesn't. He's trying to control himself and give me a chance. I take it. "When I was little, my brother and I would always use our neighbor's geese to get us out of trouble." There. Explained. Done.

"What kind of trouble?" he inquires while running a finger in circles over my aching cheek.

Now he wants to have a conversation about my childhood? Most of the time he can't stand to hear one word of it. We had two very different upbringings. Mine was the childhood most dream of, during the daylight at least. The nightmares of my parents were more like the life he was living. He was raised by a group of men who remain unknown. Once in awhile they interrupt broadcasts to tell us they will bring light to the dark path we have chosen. That is always followed by one of their creations going on a killing spree in the Capitol. Always a child. Using weapons that inflict damage to hundreds. And at the moment they start running out of ammunition or are about to be stopped they always explode into pieces. Luca was the exception. When he was the sent out to murder he was always able to walk away untouched, so as long as he wasn't about to get caught. For months he alone terrorized the Capitol. He thinks was about twelve at the time but we'll never know his age for certain. Then one day his weapon of choice, a bomb, didn't go off. So he went back to check and nearly a hundred soldiers were waiting for him. They took him into custody and pressed him for details about the group no longer controlling him. He stayed silent for years and earned the name Vox in memory of Avox's. Eventually the team in charge of extracting information from him gained his trust, reprogrammed his brain from the lies he was told. He hasn't left Thirteen since and has instead vowed to serve Panem and train others. I don't need to know the details of his life. I just let him take out his pain on me.

"The kind children get into. Telling our parents the geese ate our vegetables. If one of us got hurt falling out of a tree we would tell them a goose bit us. If I got tired of a shirt I would let them mangle it." The more I go on the more I sound like a perfectly spoiled child. I don't know if my parents knew but it's ridiculous now to think that they didn't and really just let me get away with it all.

Luca takes in a deep breath. "You were a very bad girl, weren't you?"

I close my eyes and try not to clench my bottom. "Yes."

The hand on my back keeps me place just a bit firmer and I know the end is near. "It's good thing you met me when you did. Without my discipline who knows what kind of monster you would have turned into?"

The next three hits come one after another, one on the untouched cheek, one on my most tender side and the last back on the other side. I swear when the time the last one makes contact. I quickly wipe away the tears forming in my eyes. It's an involuntary reaction I don't need him to see.

Releasing me from his grip, he invites me to sit on the bed while he stands. It stings terribly so I use his pillow for cushioning, wrapping my arms around my knees up to support myself. "Glad it's over?" he asks with a satisfied smile.

"It better not be. I haven't gotten what I want yet," I reply watching him with eager eyes.

It takes forever but eventually his clothes disappear. Ever drop of fabric increases the blood flow to the center of my being. No one gets to see this side of Luca Vox. Naked. Bare. Every part of him hard, from his chest, to his arms, to his... spanking me is the surest way to get him aroused every time.

"How wet are you?" Obviously Commander Vox is having a little trouble keeping his own little commander patient.

I lie down but keep my knees up in front of me, enjoying the view and preventing him from seeing his. "You're the one who likes to know everything about me... why don't you come and find out?"

Luca kneels onto the bed and starts a slow crawl toward me, meeting my challenge. My heart skips a beat as every move of his limbs brings him that much closer to me. When he reaches me he places his hands onto my knees but I keep them standing guard. "Open up."

"Maybe now's a good time for you to come up with your own word, like a password."

I see the flash of annoyance in his dark eyes and wish I could take back what I just said. His hand on my leg sends a shiver down my spine. "Or I could just use brute force..."

I lock my knees together using what strength I have left. "You could... but I'll let you in quicker if you put a little effort into this." I bite my lip as soon as I finish more out of nervousness than trying to be seductive.

Both of his hand slide down, resting on my ankles. It wouldn't take much for him to pry my legs apart... from past experience. "I don't think I have the patience for this, Mellark."

"You could say anything, anything at all. Whatever comes to mind when you can't stand waiting any longer..." I give him a wry smile as I give him the same unhelpful advice.

One long deep breath later, Luca gives me his answer. "Fine. You win."

"Great. What's the password going to be?"

"You win, Meadow. You know how I hate to lose, but you've done everything I've asked and I will give you this one. So when I'm desperate enough, like right now, when I say you win, I get what I want."

I let him gently part my legs as he gives me a rare moment of control. Technically, we're both getting what we want.


End file.
